Guwahati: The Coordination Committee of Tribal Organisations of Assam (CCTOA) has rejected the Group of Ministers' (GoM) recommendation to classify six communities, including Tai Ahom, Chutia, Moran, Matak, Koch-Rajbongshi, and Tea Tribes, as Scheduled Tribes (STs).
The CCTOA, an umbrella of 14 tribal groups, argued that Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes are distinct categories under the Indian Constitution.
SCs are defined based on their position in the Hindu caste hierarchy, whereas STs are identified through tribal traits such as unique culture, geographical isolation, backwardness, and limited interaction with wider society, as outlined in the 1965 Lokur Committee report on caste and tribe classification.
According to the CCTOA, the state government had earlier, in 1993, classified these six communities as "Other Backward Classes" following a study by the Institute of Research for the Tribals and Scheduled Castes.
The National Commission for Backward Classes also recognised them as "Other Backward Castes." The CCTOA claimed that changing their status now to STs for political reasons would be inappropriate.
The committee also questioned the independence of expert panels whose recommendations formed the basis of the GoM report.
The Ethnographic Expert Committee on Tea and Ex-Tea Garden Tribes had suggested that only 38 out of 74 such communities be given SC status, yet the Assam government proposed ST recognition for all 74 communities.
The CCTOA further stated that neither the Assam government, the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Registrar General of India, nor the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes can override expert committee findings.
Last November, the GoM submitted an interim report suggesting a three-tier classification of STs: ST (Plains), ST (Hills), and ST (Valley). The proposed ST (Valley) category would include the six communities in question.
The recommendations sparked protests, including incidents of vandalism at the Bodoland Territorial Council secretariat in Kokrajhar.